Here There Be Monsters: Barron’s “The Werewolf Handbook” and “Biblio Vampiro”

Halloween’s just a week away, and there’s no telling what kinds of ghouls will be haunting the cul-de-sacs of your neighborhood. Better be safe. Better get Barron’s! Dr. Robert Curran sets the record straight on the unquiet dead and their lycanthropic cousins with Barron’s Biblio Vampiro and The Werewolf Handbook.

Bilbio Vampiro and The Werewolf Handbook are designed to look grimoires, with full-color illustrations gathered from sources as diverse as recent movies and ancient manuscripts. Both of these gorgeous little books contain everything a would-be vampire or werewolf hunter would need to find – or perhaps better yet, avoid – these creatures of the night. Curran goes beyond the everyday folklore that the casual fan of the paranormal knows, digging deeply in the graveyard dirt to uncover the slimy roots of these most famous of fiends.

Does the word “vampire” evoke images of pallid eastern European noblemen in opera wear? Perhaps so, my erstwhile Van Helsing, but what of Abhartach, the vampire chieftain of ancient Ireland? or the Albanian Sampiro, whose eyes are as big as a car’s headlights and makes “kissing noises” as it approaches its prey? Might you be able to spot them so easily? Werewolves are as varied as vampires, with Celtic, French and Roman variations that all have their own vulnerabilities and habits. Knowing them could be make difference between life and death!

Run, don’t walk, to your favorite bookstore to acquire these volumes…before it’s too late!